NEWS LITE : COMIC SAYS TV LIKE HIGH SCHOOL.

For Drew Carey, being on TV is just like high school. The main difference: his allowance is bigger.

Carey explains in his upcoming book ``Dirty Jokes and Beer: Stories of the Unrefined,'' excerpted in the Sept. 27 TV Guide:

``Ever been gossiped about? You know what it's like to be in the tabloids.

``Ever been in a popular clique? An unpopular one? You know what it's like to work on a hit show - or one that's failing.

``Bad report card? Welcome to bad ratings.''

Similarities end when it comes to ready cash.

``The money is ridiculous, and you'll never hear me complaining about an overpaid sports star again,'' he writes in the book that hits stores later this month. ``My manager calls it `stupid money.' ''

Singer Paycheck takes job at Opry

It's a job even Johnny Paycheck couldn't turn down.

Asked on stage Saturday if he wanted to join the cast of the Grand Ole Opry, the singer best known for the song ``Take This Job and Shove It'' was suddenly an eager beaver.

``Yes, in a New York minute!'' Paycheck gushed.

The surprise on-stage appeal during a performance was believed to be a first for the Opry, the nation's longest-running radio show, which first aired in 1925.

The country music honor also was captured on the Opry segment televised weekly by The Nashville Network.

``Some of Johnny's biggest fans are current Opry stars, so he is a favorite of theirs and an odds-on choice for membership among many of our cast members,'' Opry general manager Bob Whittaker said.

Paycheck's other hits include ``(Don't Take Her) She's All I Got,'' ``Someone to Give My Love To'' and ``Slide Off of Your Satin Sheets.''

Jazz musician finds a way to Monterey

It took Cuban trumpeter Arturo Sandoval two years to get to the Monterey Jazz Festival.

A 1995 travel mix-up found Sandoval boarding a plane supposedly bound for the coastal California city.

``I heard the flight attendant say, `Good evening ladies and gentlemen. Welcome to our flight to Monterrey, Mexico,' '' Sandoval said. ``I said, `Aaaaah!' ''

Similar city name, wrong country.

It was the only gig he has ever missed, so when asked to play at the 40th Monterey festival this year, he wasn't about to repeat the mistake.

His appearance meant even more, he said, because Monterey was the only festival to invite him to play while he was still a fledgling musician in Cuba. He defected to the United States in 1990.

Other performers at the weekend festival include Dave Grusin, Koko Taylor, Otis Rush, Buddy Guy, Diana Krall, David Sanborn and Sonny Rollins.

Playboy to sponsor tour of revolutionary sex sites

Dozens of people will set out on a tour of New York on Saturday and Sunday, but they will not be stopping at places like the Empire State Building or the Statue of Liberty. Rather, they will be visiting sites considered central to the sexual revolution of the 20th century.

The tour, by bus and on foot, which begins in Greenwich Village and ends in Times Square, is being sponsored by Playboy magazine in conjunction with a 10-part series it began publishing in December. ``It's not likely that New York has an exclusive claim on the sexual revolution, but so many milestones did occur there, and it will be fascinating to visit the places that had meaning,'' Hugh Hefner, the magazine's editor in chief, said the other day.

Among sites to be highlighted along the way are the home of Ida Craddock, author of a turn-of-the-century sex manual; Madison Square, where architect Stanford White and Evelyn Nesbitt, a showgirl, had their infamous affair; Paresis Hall, the first known gay bar; the Stonewall Inn, site of the historic riots; the home and first clinic of Margaret Sanger, the birth control pioneer; and the New Amsterdam Theater, once home of the Ziegfeld Follies.

Hefner, who rarely leaves the sanctum sanctorum of his Los Angeles mansion, said he would not be on hand. He will be too busy at work there, he said, and of course, loath to get out of his black pajamas.

Munchkin mania at Oz event

In 1939, as coroner of Munchkin Land, Meinhardt Raabe pronounced the Wicked Witch of the East dead in ``The Wizard of Oz.'' Nearly 60 years later, he's still a fan favorite.

Raabe was one of 12 original Munchkins who turned out Friday in Chesterton, Ind., for the 16th annual Wizard of Oz Festival, where adoring fans snapped flash photos and shot home video.

``It's an ego trip,'' said Raabe, 82, who still gets fan mail. ``This is our reward, the nostalgia.''

Fans of the fantasy classic starring the late Judy Garland flocked to Chesterton by the thousands for the festival. Auto license plates in the parking lot included tags from Minnesota, Arizona, Iowa and Ohio.

CAPTION(S):

2 Photos

PHOTO (1) CAREY

(2) Telecommuter 

Monte Davrill, a technician at Stanford Linear Accelerator, raises his arms as he nears the finish line - with his coffee maker and his computer along for the ride - in a derby Sunday at Menlo Park, Calif., to benefit the Every Kid a Start-up fund.

Associated Press